


The Long and Winding Road

by bbiteshard



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: AU, Character Death, F/M, Recreational Drug Use, Smut, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-29
Updated: 2014-04-29
Packaged: 2018-01-21 06:41:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1541333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bbiteshard/pseuds/bbiteshard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After losing her twin, Katherine Gilbert has been on a downward spiral. Enter Professor Elijah Mikaelson with his perfect accent, perfect hair and perfect Tom Ford suit. The two embark on a journey of pain, lust, forgiveness, and most importantly, love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Earth to Kat

**Author's Note:**

> Ello! Thank you for reading my story!  
> I wanted to give a HUGE thank you to my Betas: Leah, Spence, and Beckiie for correcting my punctuation and just being all around flawless.
> 
> Disclaimer: I unfortunately don't own anything TVD related.
> 
> #Britt

How had she gotten here? How had she gotten in this seat? How had she not heard a word Caroline was saying? Her mind was completely blank. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Elena was supposed to be here with her, walking with her to this class. Sitting beside her in the bottom row seats, talking to her about the upcoming semester.

"Earth to Kat." voiced an impatient Caroline beside her.

"Kat!" Caroline said more harshly. Katherine snapped her head up to look at the glaring blonde beside her.

"Have you heard a word I've said? Do you think its okay for me to go out on a date with Tyler? I know he's a sophomore, but he's so freaking hot."

"If dumb, steroid pumping jocks is your thing, go for it." Katherine said, looking down at her phone. She hadn't changed the display picture - it was still a picture of her and Elena. Elena was smiling while Katherine was doing her usual unamused look. She missed that. She missed her.

"Wow. Rude much? That's not even fair considering you've been messing around with his hot uncle who also happens to be on the football team." Caroline said clearly upset by Katherine's behavior.

"I know. Sorry. I'm just ready to leave."

"We've been here for twenty minutes Kat. Class hasn't even started yet."

"Well our professor is ten minutes late and I have more important things to be doing." Katherine retorted.

"Like who? Mason?"

"Well he's a good start." Katherine said with a fake smile.

She had been doing that a lot lately, putting on fake smiles. It was like no one could tell the difference. Her face forced out "normal" emotions but on the inside she felt hollow.

Katherine stood up from her seat, "I'll see you later Caroline. He's late and I'm not going to sit here for another ten minutes."

"Don't just go, wait five minutes. No one else is leaving." Caroline whispered angrily. Katherine looked behind her and sure enough, no one was getting up to leave.

"I don't care. I'll see you back at the apartment."

Katherine reached down and grabbed her large purse from beside Caroline's feet. She swiftly turned around to exit the classroom when she ran into a firm chest.

"Going somewhere?" The voice asked her. Her head slowly rose to meet the softest brown eyes she had ever seen.

"Um what?" Katherine replied somewhat unintelligently.

The man took a step back from her. Katherine's eyes immediately scanned over him. She noticed his precisely polished shoes, his Tom Ford black suit, and his silver cuff links that were peeking out from his sleeve. He was lean and somewhat tall. His brown hair was gelled perfectly into place.

"I asked if you were going somewhere." His voice was strong, impolite and she could've sworn she heard a slight accent.

Katherine finally focused and realized where she was. She turned her head to look around the room, all eyes were on her. She looked over at Caroline who had her head bowed down in embarrassment.

"I was just about to leave, I'm really not one to be kept waiting." Katherine's voice was firm. She pushed back her shoulders and stood up straight.

"My apologies Miss…?"

"Gilbert."

"Gilbert. Well Miss Gilbert, it won't happen again. So if you would take your seat, we can begin." The man said dismissively.

Katherine was appalled. No one had ever dismissed her so quickly. She glared at him for a few moments before turning around and sitting back in her seat. She gently sat her purse back on the ground and crossed her legs. Her eyebrows raised to inform him that she was ready to begin.

The man walked behind the large brown desk that sat in the middle of the lecture hall. His perfect black suit clashed against the streaked and stained whiteboard behind him.

"As I was telling Miss Gilbert, I'm sorry for my tardiness. I am Elijah Mikaelson and I will be teaching Business Ethics. This course will not be easy. I am expecting a lot out of each and every one of you. I'm going to pass out the Syllabus, you'll do well to memorize it as I follow it thoroughly. I am warning you that I'm overly fond of pop quizzes so you'll need to pay attention and do the readings. Any questions?"

Katherine looked around only to realize no one was going to raise their hand. He moved from the desk with the printed stack of sheets in his hand. She watched as he moved fluidly up the stairs to hand out the syllabus to each row. When he got to her row she reached her hand out to take the stack of papers, but instead he dropped them down on her lap and moved back toward the desk. Katherine gave out a huff of annoyance. She took the piece of paper and passed the stack on. Caroline turned her head and looked at her.

"What is your problem?" Caroline asked, in what Katherine recognized as her most annoyed voice.

"Stop asking me that! Nothing. I'm peachy."

Caroline looked at Katherine in sympathy. Katherine shook her head and scrunched up her face in anger.

"Leave it, Caroline." Katherine said angrily. Caroline nodded her head and looked back toward the professor.

Mr. Mikaelson continued on with his lecture about what he expected out of the class, the attendance policy (which was complete bullshit), and the exams during the semester.

Finally Mr. Mikaelson gave the class permission to go.

Caroline and Katherine stood up and gathered their things. They were both headed to the door when Katherine heard her name being called.

"Miss Gilbert!"

Katherine turned around to see Mr. Mikaelson beckoning her over to his desk. She simply raised an eyebrow at him and turned right back around and strolled out of the classroom. Caroline came trailing behind her with a confused look on her face.

"What was that?" Caroline said from behind Katherine, struggling to hold her notebook and balance her purse.

"What was what?" She knew what Caroline was talking about but she knew better than to get into it with the blonde.

"The whole just walking away from our professor when he's calling your name..."

"I didn't hear him."

"You looked straight at him."

"I was looking at the clock."

"That clock doesn't work and you have a watch on." Caroline said triumphantly.

"Care…" Katherine said exasperatedly. They continued to move out of the building and outside.

"You like him!" Caroline yelled beside her. Katherine spared her a glance, before increasing her pace.

"I don't like him. He was rude and he kept the whole class waiting for him. And what was up with the two thousand dollar suit? He teaches at a state college."

Caroline moved to catch up with her. Katherine was grateful that Caroline didn't carry on about what had happened. She instead chose to walk quietly next to her. Katherine wasn't even sure she knew what happened. Whatever it was, she knew that it had the potential to be bad. She didn't need anymore bad. Her life was messed up enough.

The pair finally reached their apartment. They walked in and headed toward their respective rooms. Katherine remembered Caroline had cheer practice soon and some committee meeting after that. She put her stuff down on her bed and walked to the bathroom. Her chest tightened as she stood in front of the mirror. The hate that she felt from being in this bathroom and the memories that came with it... Even worse, looking in the mirror. She could pretend that her reflection was her twin. She could try to smile as Elena had and imagine that Elena was right in front of her. She didn't want to see her own lifeless eyes staring back at her.

With a shake of her head, Katherine reached into the medicine cabinet and skillfully untwisted the cap of the prescription bottle and poured three light blue pills with a 'K' cut in the middle into her hand. She threw them into her mouth and turned on the faucet. Gathering some water in her palms, she swallowed thickly, washing down the pills. Katherine turned off the faucet, frowning into the mirror one last time before turning to go back into her room. She looked down at her watch, it was a little after twelve. She had two hours before her next class began. Katherine climbed into her bed and stared at the ceiling and eventually, she fell into a fitful sleep.


	2. I'm great, Professor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick thanks to my Betas Spence (bewaretheweres), Beckiie (fangbanging-whores), and Leah (approvesomuch).
> 
> I still don't own anything TVD related.
> 
> #britt (jeremysbiceps)

It had been two weeks since the start of the fall Semester. Katherine felt like she was at least a month behind. Caroline had tried to convince her to join cheerleading and take Elena's place. At first she wasn't too keen on the idea, but then she remembered how much Elena had loved it, so she begrudgingly said yes. So far she had realized that adding Cheerleading to her already full course was a lot more than she could take on.

Caroline had called for a team workout at 7:30 this morning and Katherine's first class of the day started at 9:00 am. It was currently 8:55 and Katherine was jogging across campus in what she now realized was a way too tight tank top, her Ugg boots and Soffe shorts with her book bag thrown carelessly over her arm. She looked down at her watch and realized that it would still take her another 10 minutes to reach her destination. Sighing in frustration, Katherine picked up her pace. She was almost to class when she dropped her book bag and the contents spilled out onto the pavement. Katherine look around with a groan and bent down to pick them up. Picking up the last book, she heard a cat call behind her. Slinging her bag over her shoulder she turned around to face the offender.

Standing by the only a couple of feet away near the tall, red-brick Math building, was a group of boys, all ranging in height. Katherine thought they looked young, too young to be in college. She stood straight, brought up her hand and raised her middle finger before laughing and turning around to cross the street.

Katherine entered the quiet business building as most people were already in their respective classes. She walked at a fast pace down the corridor. Reaching for the door into the lecture hall, Katherine took a deep breath and exhaled. The first thing she noticed while entering the room was her teacher. He was clearly in mid-sentence when she opened the door. The next thing she noticed was the fact that most of her peers were staring at her. Putting on her infamous "bitch face," Katherine moved towards the seat beside Caroline.

"Why are you late?" Caroline whispered to her. Katherine sat down in her seat. She got out the assignment that was due today and looked at Caroline.

"I don't know. Maybe it was the 7:00 clock wake-up call? Maybe it was the forcing us to work out until 8:45? I had no time to get ready Caroline! I saw you sneak out at 8:30!" Katherine whispered angrily.

"Maybe if you didn't completely suck at lifts you wouldn't have to be in the gym so long!"

Katherine huffed in annoyance. She turned her head to Caroline and stuck out her tongue.

"Bitch." Caroline hissed a little too loudly. That's when Katherine remembered where she was.

Looking up from her lap Katherine looked at Mr. Mikaelson who wore an amused look on his face. He licked his lips and Katherine decided that she would like to see that more often.

"Are you two done?" he asked, looking down at his crossed feet. He leaned against the front of the desk facing the class. He wore his usual suit but left his suit jacket folded neatly over his chair.

"I think so." Katherine replied cheekily.

"Good." Mr. Mikaelson returned, standing straight and fixing his tie before looking at Katherine again. "Also Ms. Gilbert, I'd like you to stay after class for a quick chat."

"Anything for you, Professor." Katherine replied, drawing out the syllables in 'professor.' Returning her gaze to him, she was thrilled by the clear effect she had on him. Ten points to Katherine Gilbert. With a sudden cough from Caroline their gaze is interrupted. Mr. Mikaelson looked away and Katherine turned her head to Caroline with a mischievous smile. The blonde narrowed her eyes at Katherine with a heated glare before raising her hand.

"Mr. Mikaelson, I had a question about the homework." Katherine rolled her eyes and slunk back in her seat; watching as Mr. Mikaelson adjusts his tie once more before answering her roommate.

"I will spend time talking about the assignment a little later if you could please hold your questions until then. Right now I want to go over Corporate Responsibility so if you would all take out your pads, I'm going to start the lecture."

Katherine started tune out shortly after he started his lecture. Before she knew it, "Class dismissed" rang in her ears; looking next to her Katherine saw Caroline picking up her things ready to leave for her next class.

"Ms. Gilbert?" Glancing up; she rolled her eyes as Mr. Mikaelson beckoned to her with two fingers, she huffed, slowing her movements as she packed away her things. Standing up and adjusting her bookbag on her shoulders, she hesitantly walked towards his desk.

"What can I do for you Mr. Mikaelson?" Katherine stood tall her eyes landing on his mouth.

"I'd like to discuss your performance in this class." Her eyes furiously snapped to his.

"What about my performance? I've been doing well in this class." Hands clenched, brows furrowed, dark, stoney eyes boring into his; who did he think he was? Who was he to dictate her performance to her? So far all of her assignments had been turned in on time and with Caroline being a perfectionist, they had prepared as best they could for the pop quizzes.

Sensing her distress he took a step towards her. His hands that were once settled behind him on the desk were now buried deep in his pockets.

"You have been doing well on your quizzes and tests yet your assignments are sloppy and rather dull. Your attendance is also another matter of concern." He lifts his hand to scrub over his face before placing it back in his pocket.

Katherine took her eyes off the blackboard before looking up at him once again. Her hands began to shake as she tried to fully understand what he was saying. She pursed her lips, battling with herself so as not to scream a torrent of abuse at the man before her. Breathe, Katherine, just breathe.

"My... attendance?" She hissed through gritted teeth; Mr. Mikaelson turned around suddenly. His posture was very tense and cold. He stopped in front of his desk; reaching down for his briefcase.

"You've been tardy four times since the start of the semester. If you had read the syllabus you would know that more than one unexcused absence from class can and will be counted against your final grade. I take punctuality very serious Ms. Gilbert and I know you can do better than this." Her head snapped away from his gaze. You can do better than this. Those words struck her deep in her core. She remembered once hearing those words from Elena.

Katherine felt like she had been doing her best. This year wasn't about herself, this year was for Elena. Her sister would never be able to take another class, go to one more cheerleading practice, or have Caroline scheduling every waking minute of your day.

"Katherine?" snapping out of her haze, her eyes refocused on Mr. Mikaelson, whose expression was suddenly of concern. She frowned, realizing her eyes had begun to pool with tears, and she shook her head.

"What?!" Her stare became steely and cold once more and he pursed his lips, a line etched between his brows.

"Are you okay? You looked a little…upset?" Sometime during her moment of thought, Mr. Mikaelson had moved toward her. His body was close, less than a foot stood between them. His face still carried a worried expression, his hair slightly mussed as though he had ran a hand through it. Katherine felt a twinge of pleasure at the thought of him worrying about her. At least someone was concerned about her. Deliberately she slid closer to him. Her brown eyes still locked to his.

"I'm great, professor." Impulsively she took a step forward, her eyes never leaving his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of a cliff hanger but things get a lot more intense next chapter and we meet another Original. His name starts with a "K."
> 
> The next one will be a lot longer as well!
> 
> Reviews fuels me.


End file.
